Paul B. Rainey’s third graphic novel, Murder School, is published by Canadian publisher Drawn and Quarterly this September.
Over five years in the making, born from his childhood, this is Paul’s first graphic novel not published elsewhere previously, which is one heck of a landmark.
Its release follows the publisher’s welcome paperback edition of There’s No Time Like The Present last year, initially self-published in A5 zines, later released in hardover from Escape Books UK, now sold out, and Why Don’t You Love Me?, first serialised in Aces Weekly.
Murder School is a memoir of British middle school bullying and one precocious comic nerd’s fight to make it through, while remaining as invisible as possible. Paul B. Rainey takes a look back at his middle school education and the indignities suffered a mix of stalled friendships, pitched battles with martinets, and exasperated pleading with intractable parents. Playground games take on outsized importance as Paul and his friends seek respite from a particularly abusive science teacher. (I’m sure this will resonate with a lot of people).
Paul also jockeys to hold his place in the complicated hierarchy of school bullying.
A classic ‘school daze’ tale, both wistful and hilarious, Paul turns it on its head with a couple of his now famous twists. Find out the truth behind The Murder School and the effect it’s had on Rainey well into middle-age…
Paul B. Rainey is a British cartoonist who has been making comics for decades. He won the Observer/Jonathan Cape/Comica Graphic Short Story Prize in 2020 with the strip “Similar to But Not”, in which he recounts meeting Madonna in his local pub, in 1985.
• Murder School by Paul B. Rainey is published on 15th September 2026 by Drawn and Quarterly | ISBN: 978-1770468603 | Order it here from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link) | Order it here via UKBookshop.org (Affiliate Link)
• Read a Preview on the Drawn and Quarterly website
• Murder School by Paul B. Rainey is published on 15th September 2026 by Drawn and Quarterly | ISBN: 978-1770468603 | Order it here from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link) | Order it here via UKBookshop.org (Affiliate Link)
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: British Comics - Graphic Novels, Comic Previews, Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, US Comics
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